One moment it’s J-Pop, the next it’s earsplitting metal: welcome to the madness that is BABYMETAL. The teenage trio stormed through Europe last week, playing Paris and Cologne before hitting the Sonisphere Festival in the UK over the weekend. At Knebworth, they found themselves taking photos with and attracting new fans in the form of the standard-bearers of heavy metal today – Deftones, Anthrax, Slayer. Here’s an interview video that TeamRock did with festival-goers sussing out how they felt about Babymetal. Spoiler: They all seemed to love them, and yes, there is a burly man with metal-appropriate facial hair saying the words, ‘Really good dance routine.’ Thought I’d never see the day. A comment elsewhere on another video notes that ‘the pit was full of long haired vikings’.
Enough with the introduction. The gig itself was pretty much a continuation of Sonisphere, opening with a video of Star-Wars-style prelude (‘Episode II’, according to the projection) featuring an unashamedly cheesy story about three girls who set out for Europe (because ‘all roads lead to Europe’) after being appointed by the Fox God, patron deity of heavy metal (yes, just bear with me), to reintroduce the world to the power of metal. The blatant use of metal clichés (the girls are represented by three spinning coffins and yes, there is a lot of black and red) borders on parody, but the best thing about Babymetal is, of course, the fact that it really isn’t. The video then fades away while the band starts to play the bone-crushing intro to ‘Babymetal Death’: the insanity has begun.
And insane it was. I have no idea where Su-metal, Yui-metal, and Moa-metal get any of their energy from, but to be fair, the setlist did seem very cleverly arranged to ensure that they had breaks for rest in between songs. Yui-metal and Moa-metal form their own mini-duo called Black Babymetal, and during the first half the set would alternate between Su-metal performing solo and Black Babymetal performances, interspersed with virtuosic showcases by the backing band – which, in case anyone is wondering, are fucking splendid. The music itself veers wildly between genres, including a brief spot of reggae (the lights even turned green to suit the schizophrenic switch), unabashed J-Pop, and even a moment of flirtation with rap/R&B (with a bit that literally goes YO, YO, YO, YO).
I’d say that was a pretty awesome gig, but the pop/metal fusion doesn’t seem to be for everyone. My flatmate, whom I’d managed to dragged along with me, remained utterly confused throughout the performance, and she pointed out that the man next to her seemed pretty lost too, but I myself was having a whale of a time. It probably depends on the sort of music you enjoy and what you’re used to, but if you love the fact that some things simply don’t have to make any sort of sense – or love pop and metal and would love to have both together in the same concert (yes, you can have your cake and eat it!) – then Babymetal will most probably be your sort of thing. The crazy headbanging, moshing, and Wall of Death going on in the pit is quite a spectacle too. If you’re still on the fence, watch this compilation of clips from the pro-shot delayed broadcast of the London gig, and then have a look at the live performance of their anti-bullying song ‘Ijime, Dame, Zettai’ (literally meaning ‘Bullying, Don’t, Ever’) from their Babymetal Live-Legend I, D, Z Blu-ray. You will never see metal the same way again.
METAKOUSTIK 